2024 ArcGIS Online Competition 
​(FOR HIGH SCHOOL & MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS in the U.S.A.)

What is the ArcGIS Online Competition for US High School and Middle School Students?

The ArcGIS Online Competition for US High School and Middle School Students is a competition where students create their own projects and create storymaps about a topic in their home state. It can be any topic as long as the project is based in the student's home state.
Eligibility
  • Entrants must be precollegiate students registered in grades 6-12, from public schools or non-public schools including home schools, under age 19, who have not yet received a high school diploma or equivalent
  • Entrants must reside and be in school in the United States or its districts or territories: 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. (Thus, "state" in this document means one of these 56 units.)
  • Students can work singly or in a team of two, but can participate in only one entry. Teams with one student in middle school (gr.6-8) and one in high school (gr.9-12) must be considered as high school.
  • Entrants may work on the challenge through school, via a club, or independently, but entries must be submitted to the state from a recognized school or home school.
  • Any school or home school program can submit to the state a maximum of 5 entries total, counting the sum of middle school and high school entries
Rules: Criteria for Judging
For a more detailed list of Criteria and more information about the rules, click here. 
  1. Account: Entries cannot be from a public account, and must be from an ArcGIS Online Organization Account. 
  2. Login/sharing: Entries must be visible to the public, and do not require a password to have access to them.
  3. Originality: Entries must be original work by the students.
  4. Visual Supports: Permission to use "Non-Map" visuals is limited.
  5. URLs: Entries must provide to the school/ state/ Esri three pieces of URL data: the URL prefix for the Org hosting the entry, and two links in "short form" (e.g. https://arcg.is/1a2b3c)
  6. Scoring: "We look for a clear focus/topic/question/story, good and appropriate data, effective analysis, good cartography, effective presentation, and complete documentation. The element by element analysis in the 2020 national results, and the 2021 and 2022 national winner entries present good examples of what is sought in a project."
  7. Project Tips: 
    1. Look at previous honorable mention projects.
    2. Readers should be easily familiarized with an area through the project, even if they are unfamiliar with it
    3. Maps should be interactive.
    4. Maps should demonstrate the importance of location, patterns, and relationships between layers.
    5. Popups should be useful, with only relevant information provided.
    6. Document the project thoroughly.
    7. See the "Project Design" section on the Resources page of the ArcGIS Comp site.
Competition Timeline and  Deadlines

Date
​Deadlines
Mid January
KY entry forms posted to KGA Website
April 6th-7th
Recommended deadline for individual and team submissions at the school level. (Deadline decided at each school).
April 12th
Deadline for school entries to reach the KGA.
April 20th-21st
State winner submissions to Ersi deadline for national competition.
TBA
Ersi notifies national awardees.
Obtain a School ArcGIS License Through Esri Using the Link Below:

https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/education/schools/schools-mapping-software-bundle
Competition Entry Forms
For students to submit to their schools:
esri_ago_comp2023_stage1_stuteamtoschool_ky.xlsx
File Size: 19 kb
File Type: xlsx
Download File
For schools to submit to the KGA:
esri_ago_comp2023_stage2_schooltostate_ky.xlsx
File Size: 20 kb
File Type: xlsx
Download File
For tutorials, data sources, and other relevant GIS information, please go to our GIS in the Classroom page or click the button below.
Thank you to our Sponsors for this Competition!